'This is becoming a new norm': Cops release picture of another heroin-overdose mother slumped at the wheel while her baby cries in the back seat
- Erika Hurt, 25, was found slumped at wheel of car in Hope, Indiana
- She was parked outside a Dollar General store with her son in back seat
- The mother was still clutching a syringe in her hand when police arrived
- She was revived, taken to hospital and charged with child neglect
- Indiana Police released her photo to spread awareness of heroin epidemic
Erika Hurt was pictured by police as they found her on Saturday shortly after 2pm in Hope, Indiana, still clutching a syringe in her floppy left hand.
The 25-year-old's 10-month-old son was crying in the backseat. They were parked outside a Dollar General Store.
Hurt was revived and taken to hospital. She was later charged with child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Town Marshal Matthew Tallent shared the image to highlight America's drug epidemic which he said was 'leaking into small town USA'.
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Erika Hurt was found slumped at the wheel of her car, still holding a syringe in her limp left hand after overdosing while her 10-month-old son cried in the backseat
'I'm trying to show people that this just isn't a city problem. The heroin epidemic is leaking into small town America and it's getting really bad,' he told DailyMail.com.
'Not only did this woman overdose and nearly die but, had she not passed out from the drug, she would have driven out of the car park and could still have been driving while passed out or under the influence.
'She could have killed another innocent family.'
Tallent said the woman's baby was crying when police found them in the car after being called by a passer-by who had seen Hurt unconscious.
'The child was fine, he got fussy towards the end when they tried to take him out. He was crying when they arrived.'
Hurt, 25, was taken to hospital and revived. She was later charged with child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia
Rhonda Pasek, 50, and James Accord, 47, were demonized after their photograph went viral in which they appeared passed out in the front of a car with Pasek's grandson in the back
He pleaded with members of the public to consider America's drug problem, describing it as 'getting worse by the day'.
'I hope that people look at it and see what kind of state this is coming to, the heroin epidemic in the country right now. It's getting worse by the day.'
Hart's incident is the most recent in a string involving cars and drugs with children present.
Kristin Tippett drove backwards into a Wendy's restaurant while overdosing at the wheel on heroin in Dunbar, West Virginia, on Tuesday.
Her son was also in the backseat. Paramedics revived her using Naloxone, the same drug given to Hurt.
In Ohio, a couple was found passed out in their car after allegedly injecting heroin last week.
Taylor Swartzlander, 24, and Haley Kirkendall, 22,were filmed by a bystander as they sat slumped over in the two front seats of their car on October 17.
Other footage of a couple crawling on the sidewalk in Memphis, Tennessee, was captured
Kristin Tippett (right) drove backwards into a Wendy's restaurant while overdosing at the wheel on heroin in Dunbar, West Virginia, on Tuesday. Left, Taylor Swartzlander, 24, and Haley Kirkendall, 22, passed out in their car after an alleged overdose
A video (above) of a man telling his son that his mother had died from an overdose was also widely viewed
Alyssa Bazala, a 25-year-old mother, was found passed out in her car with her baby after an overdose at the start of the month in Pennsylvania.
The image of a grandmother passed out after overdosing with her friend while her grandson sat up enthusiastically in his car seat reignited discussion on the growing problem.
Rhonda Pasek, 50, and James Accord, 47, were demonized after their photograph went viral.
Uploading the image to Facebook, East Liverpool Police said: 'We are well aware that some may be offended by these images and for that we are truly sorry, but it is time that the non drug using public sees what we are now dealing with on a daily basis.
'The poison known as heroin has taken a strong grip on many communities not just ours, the difference is we are willing to fight this problem until it’s gone and if that means we offend a few people along the way we are prepared to deal with that.'
A woman who fell unconscious in a toy store next to her toddler was viewed millions of times when a video of her collapse was uploaded to the internet
Pasek later sobbed in court claiming she had not taken heroin.
She claimed to have drank beer and taken what she thought was a painkiller.
'I made the worst mistake of my life. I'll be paying for this until the day I die.
'I know how wrong I was and there is no taking it back. I take full responsibility,' she said.
Other harrowing footage taken in Memphis, a couple was seen crawling over the sidewalk while elsewhere in America, children have come home to find their parents on a heroin binge.
In June, a report from the United Nations warned of a heroin epidemic gripping America with cheap supply helping push the number of users to a 20-year high.
In recent months authorities have said they are coping with an abnormal spike in the number of overdoses after heroin cut with elephant tranquilizer 10,000 times more powerful than morphine was being taken.
Ohio seems to be one of the states worse affected. Seven people overdosed in one night last month in Cleveland.
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